When I select a reference designator I see the text rotation angle.
I would like to see the angle display change when I hit “M” to move the text.
I would like to see the text’s angle of rotation in relation to the center of its part.
You already draw a line from the center of the part to the text as the text is moved around.
I would like to see the angle of the line.
What if I have a bunch of round caps and I want to place all of those cap designators at 55 degrees around each cap.
I realize I can set up a polar coordinate system but who wants to do that for moving around a few reference designators when the machine could simply tell me the angle of rotation.
And now that I think about it. The distance from the center of the part to the text would also be beneficial.
And while I’m at it. Whenever I select a footprint, I would also like to see the global coordinates of its reference point, the area within the courtyard and the X and Y distances from the footprints reference point to its courtyard boundary.
M is for Move. Use R for Rotate.
You will find all available Hot key Commands, both assigned and unassigned, in:
Preferences / Preferences / Hot keys.
Already there when you highlight RefDes.
This is not a line. It is a courtesy indicator to show which footprint belongs to which text.
Also, need two intersecting lines for an angle.
X & Y values at the very bottom and middle of your screen. Just hover your cursor over the reference point of the required footprint.
Use ruler… the bottom tool on the RHS list.
Footprint reference points are not always the centre of the footprint; also, footprint reference points can be moved to anywhere the user chooses.
Precisely, when I hit “M” to move the text I no longer care about the text’s rotation angle.
But, at this moment I am moving the text in relation to it’s footprint.
The angle display could change to the text’s angular relation to it’s footprint.
i.e. 135 degrees would be text next to the upper-left corner of the footprint.
280 degrees would be text just left of center of the bottom of the footprint.
That is the angle of the text’s rotation around the text’s reference point limited to 0, 90, 18 and 270 degrees.
I would like to see the angle of rotation from the reference point of the footprint to the reference point of the text.
O.K. Its a courtesy indicator.
I would like to see the length of and angle of this courtesy indicator in relation to reference point of the footprint.
i.e. 135 degrees would be a courtesy indicator that would cross 10:30 on a clock face.
280 degrees would be a courtesy indicator that would cross 5:50 on a clock face.
To be clear none of this has anything to do with the rotation of the text itself.
I’m talking about the polar rotation angle and radius of the courtesy indicator in relation to the reference point of the footprint.
This discussion has nothing to do with intersecting lines.
Those are the X and Y values of the cursor not the selected footprint’s reference point.
After I have changed the grid and zoomed in 6 times?
That’s the point of requests like these.
The programmers can greatly reduce the effort needed to do a layout.
Precisely why the area and extents dimension data would be helpful.
One would be quickly aware of the footprint makeup with one simple selection click.
When I select a footprint I see the Z dimension, could you add to this display the X1, X2, Y1 and Y2 dimensions and multiply the (X1+X2)(Y1+Y2) to display the A area as well.
With these features one could be zoomed out to view an entire board and check many components quickly to verify their positioning.
One could click 10 parts across a board and verify that they are all lined up in just a matter of seconds.
Much quicker than changing grids, zooming in and out, panning, etc…
That sounds like a concrete wishlist item, though I have no idea how hard it would actually be to implement.
To make sure the developers consider it, pleast post it on Gitlab as an issue. (Gitlab does require a separate account). In that issue, make sure to copy and paste everything from your forum posts that is relevant, not just link back here.
I have a few comments:
I mentioned intersecting lines for the angle. You need a reference “0” line from the centre or not centre of the footprint. When the footprint is rotated, do you want the reference “0” line rotated or not?
When “Ref” is moved even slightly, up, down, sideways, the angle will change.
If the “Ref” changes from, say 2 digits to 3 digits, the angle will also change because the center of the “Ref” has moved.
I’m not sure how the angle could serve much purpose with all the above mentioned complications.
That was me being lazy. I rarely use this feature other than board outline or problematic edge component location, using the grid for nearly all parts location.
You will find the exact global position by double clicking on the footprint to bring up “Footprint Properties”. There is a box in the middle titled “Position”.
I’d need an explanation for this feature.
To me, the screen print layer is something you place in a convenient position, if there is room, somewhere near the footprints, if the printing won’t interfere with the pads or parts.
This is another one I’d need an explanation for its purpose.
Notice the C14 RefD which is captured under the cursor.
I highlighted C11-C14, hovered over C14 and hit the M key to move the four selected RefD’s.
Notice written along side the courtesy indicator is the distance from the components reference point, in this case Pin 1, and the angle that the courtesy indicator makes in reference to the the components reference point.
Now if I could hit, lets say the “P” key to do a polar align I could have all four RefD’s aligned to 3.84mm at 105 degrees from the reference points of their components.
Simple, drag a box to highlight, hover, M and then P to polar align any number of RefD’s to their components.
Also if the C14 RefD is already in the correct position then the ability to skip the M key and go straight to the P key to do the alignment would be helpful.
Then you could set one RefD as desired, select any number more RefD’s, hover over the desired one and hit P to set all the others.
